Team Falcons’ star-studded Counter-Strike 2 roster is no more, with the organization announcing that it has benched the bulk of its lineup and confirmed a split with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev.
Counter-Strike has seen many superteams come together over the years. Building a roster on star power hasn’t typically yielded results, though. Team Falcons is now learning that the hard way.
The organization announced that it is benching or parting with four out of its five players. The hope is to rebuild for 2025 after falling short of the Perfect World Shanghai Major.
Team Falcons confirms s1mple split and benches Dupreeh, maden, and Snappi
Team Falcons is set to rebuild its Counter-Strike 2 roster, and has benched Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer, Pavle “maden” Bošković, and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen. It also
confirmed s1mple’s departure
from the team. s1mple stated that he was leaving the roster a day prior on social media.
The move caps what was a rollercoaster year for the team. It started the year strong, taking a top-four finish at IEM Katowice 2024. A roster shakeup came just a week later when the team fell short of qualifying for the PGL Copenhagen Major.
After adding dupreeh to the squad in March, the team posted underwhelming results, placing top four in ESL Challenger events and making early exits from larger tournaments. It added s1mple in September in hopes of both turning heads and improving results. That didn’t come to pass, though, as s1mple’s run lasted just three events, all of which resulted in early exits.
The team’s final showing was in the Shanghai Major’s European RMR event. It was eliminated from the group stage with a 1-3 record.
Falcons seemingly set to rebuild around Magisk, zonic
With this move, Falcons lone active player is Emil “Magisk” Reif, who joined the team in 2023. Coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen also remains on the team.
Given Falcons’ retention of the two, it looks as though the organization is looking to rebuild around the Danish duo. The pair won multiple majors together with
the legendary Astralis dynasty
and then again with Team Vitality. This also suggests that Team Falcons may once again look to make buzzworthy signings, rather than returning to sponsoring regional-level Counter-Strike squads.
Meanwhile, dupreeh, maden, and Snappi all remain under contract with Team Falcons. They join Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia on the bench.
This will preclude them from walking away and joining another squad in the immediate future. That said, dupreeh may not mind that much. He responded to the news on X by announcing the impending birth of his second child.
Steven Rondina
About Steven Rondina
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
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